1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device including a mechanism capable of removably accommodating a memory card.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 16 shows in simplified form an example of a device with a memory card insertion/removing mechanism (refer to, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-17493). A device 40 can removably accommodate a memory card 41, and has a memory card holder 42 and a card insertion unit 43. The memory card 41 is slidingly fitted and inserted into the card insertion unit 43. The card insertion unit 43 is mounted to walls of the memory card holder 42 so as to be rotatable in the directions of a double-headed arrow Tr shown in FIG. 16.
When the memory card 41 is to be inserted into the device 40, for example, the memory card 41 is slidingly fitted and inserted into the card insertion unit 43 that is raised as shown in FIG. 16. Then, the card insertion unit 43 is rotated in the direction in which it is tilted downward, and is accommodated in the memory card holder 42. Thereafter, the memory card holder 42 is covered by a cover (not shown), and is sealed. This completes the insertion of the memory card 41 into the device 40.
When the memory card 41 is to be removed from the device 40, the aforementioned steps are carried out in the reverse order. That is, first, the cover is removed from the memory card holder 42, and the card insertion unit 43 in the memory card holder 42 is rotated in the direction in which the card insertion unit 43 is raised. Then, the memory card 41 is removed from the card insertion unit 43. In this way, the memory card 41 can be removed from the device 40.
In addition to the aforementioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-17493, refer to Japanese Patent No. 3120043 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-162894) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-76101.
In the memory card 41 insertion/removing mechanism, when the memory card 41 is inserted or removed, it is necessary to rotate the card insertion unit 43 and to place the cover onto or remove the cover from the memory card holder 42. Therefore, it is troublesome to insert and remove the memory card 41.
Memory insertion/removing mechanisms having various structures other than the above-described structure have been proposed. However, the various structures that have been proposed previously are unsatisfactory structures because, for example, they are complicated and tend to malfunction, and cannot be easily reduced in cost due the large number of parts.